The Frost Giant
The war waged in ΛZMΛRE. The North Eastern edge was being hit the hardest but the whole continent as far away as the Archipelago and even the Jungle were feeling the effects. The lands were pitted against a juggernaut that was slow, but never halting, an immense power that advanced more daily and was destroying ΛZMΛRE little by little.
A mighty creature opposed the juggernaut but how long could the one impressive creature wage constant battle and continue?
Others called this area, Frozen Hell Ice Shelf, but to the mighty Frost Giant, this Arctic wasteland was his domain. Standing 19 feet high and weighing nearly 2800 pounds, this dreadnought of a creature was a force to be reckoned with.
He was a middle-aged giant, powerful, not the kind of elderly decrepit giant that some fairy tales pander. This one could not be defeated with a handful of magic beans. He was a handsome giant, virile and surprisingly agile for his huge size. Had there been a female frost giant nearby she most certainly would have swooned watching this one vigorously fight against the salt.
The last thing on this Frost Giant’s mind was romance, the salt was the enemy and it was threatening the existence of ΛZMΛRE. The Frost Giant said in Jotun, his native language, “Am move Natrium den kills meg” loosely translated “I move the salt unless it kills me first”.
Night and day the Frost Giant pulled a huge Goblin forged sledge full of rock salt, across the icy void to the edge of his territory. This area was called the Salt Waste. He would empty the salt then return and load the sledge again for a return trip. He strained against the chains to transport the full sledge across the frozen tundra.
An ice Griffon on a mountain top yawned as the Frost Giant labored against the weight of the Sledge.
The Shipyards
The shipyards are located far South of the Frost Giant’s Lair and South East of the floating City of Anenon. Traders from the other splinters, travelers and pirates harbor there for business and assorted other reasons both legit and illicit. The closer one gets to Anenon the more wholesome are the pursuits.
A pirate walked down the gangplank of “That Damned Ship”, a pirate sloop anchored in the shipyards of Anenon Bay. He wore a Blue bandanna.
Trevor “The Speechless” Tindall was only a couple steps off the walkway and onto the dock. He was as far South East from Anenon as one could get without being on the water. His intentions were not wholesome in the least. He strolled between a couple of ship rigging stores and walked to the street.
3 watering holes came into view, the “Inn and Out”, the “Sea Spirits” and the “Unicorn Tavern”. He had heard rumors from shipmates of a young maiden that worked at the Inn and Out and
Trevor decided to try it out and maybe get a look at the beautiful young woman. Worst case, he could start there, and try the other two cantinas later in the evening.
The Inn and Out wasn’t an inn at all. It was a one-story weather lashed structure. At one point the owner may have had dreams of making an Inn out of it or maybe it was just false advertising to lure people in.
It could have been that visitors walked quickly IN, turned and walked OUT just as quickly. The risqué sound of it certainly had beckoned to pirate Trevor’s ears as he heard his ship companions talk about it. The talk of the beautiful redhead that worked behind the bar added an extra spicy element.
He walked through the saloon-style doors, loudly stated “Arrgh!” and glanced around. The décor was certainly more trashy and less flashy. Miss-matched tables, a variety of chair styles, gaudy velvet wall hangings of dragons and oddly colored ogres hung askew. There were puddles on the tables and floors of what Trevor presumed were alcohol, waiting to be mopped up.
Despite the rough decorating and mess, Trevor noted the place was busy and said “looks like me kind o' harbor!” He was a pirate after all and oftentimes did not get into a town due to weather or ocean battles.
He strolled up to the bar and ordered boisterously “Bar wench brin me sum gruel, I be thirstin’ ” Gruel was a “suicide” type of drink where a splash of everything on hand was poured into a liter-sized mug usually made out of pot steel or pewter.
Minda the barmaid was beautiful and clever. Her long strawberry red hair tied in fishtail, style attracted the jealousy of many women and the attention of numerous men. She delivered Trevor’s drink of choice with a smile.
He passed her a silver saying “Avast Lassie, I have a fierce fire in me Yardarm” while pointing at his crotch. He continued “Ye be hankerin to come aboard and shiver me timbers?”
Minda responded “Bilge Rat!” and pulled a wooden bludgeon from under the bar. “Belay and Becalmed Wench,” said the Pirate. “if’n yer mind be changed, prap’s we could be mateys?”.
Minda declared “keep at it you scabby sea shite and the only thing that’ll be mate’n here is yer skull with this ere club!” She banged the bar with the piece of hickory, hard enough to splash liquor from his drink. Minda walked away in disgust.
Trevor watched her walk away and muttered something under his breath about “plunder that booty”. He was sure to say it low as she still carried the menacing looking stick.
Minda said to her co-worker in a lyrical Anenon accent “I have seen some salty ones come through here but that is the saltiest Pirate I have had the privilege of meeting!”
The pirate ordered another drink and another. He continued to make innuendos like “Ye kin Blow The Man Down lass over ere”
A young boy that was mopping up spills caught Trevor’s eye and Trevor spoke with a slurred tongue “Fetch, Sail ho! find me a haven to crack Jenney's teacup, an this gold shall belong to ye lad!”
What the boy did not know was that Trevor had no intentions of giving the gold piece away.
What Trevor did not know was that the boy was Minda’s brother and that the young lad was especially unhappy at the way Trevor had treated his sister.
The Salty Pirate staggered to his feet and the boy/brother, much stronger than he appeared through the bloodshot eyes of a drunken pirate, said “follow me” and they left the “Inn and Out”.
The red light district, that the pirate had requested was up several streets and to the left but the two did not travel that direction. Instead, they traveled out of town and to the right in the direction of the Salt Waste.
The Goblins
Many in the land are sick from salt poisoning which is called “The Burn” and is a truly horrible way to die. The affected dry up from the inside slowly until there is no liquid left in the body.
The people of Anenon enlisted the help of Goblins to help figure out a way to slow the salt invasion.
The group of Goblins for lack of a better solution determined to take a similar tactic as the Frost Giant and “move” the offensive salt to another location.
Lacking the brute strength of the Frost Giant, the Troop of Goblins decided the best way of salt removal was to build giant cannons and use the POW-der that Goblins are famous for to shoot the salt from Anenon as far as the salt seas East of the coast.
The idea they figured would at least buy some time. It would not destroy the salt but by moving it far away it may keep it from coming back as quickly.
6 monumental guns were built outside of Anenon and were crewed by 150 Goblins that would load, calculate wind speed/direction, barometric pressure, aim and fire the battery of cannons.
It was a site to watch the goblins erect the massive artillery then run to a fro loading and preparing to fire the behemoth cannons on cue. At the time of this writing, five out of the six cannons actually worked and shot the salt high into the clouds.
The 6th cannon was plugged somehow effectively making a monstrous pipe bomb out of it. When the POW-der was touched off the artillery piece exploded and sent salt and goblin parts alike flying to the far reaches of ΛZMΛRE. It was an EPIC Goblin rain.
The other 5 shot well and the goblins considered this a huge success as their gadgets don’t have a great history for working as scheduled. There was much celebration and drinking despite the loss of one cannon crew due to blockage.
What the goblins did not realize was that when the salt fired high up in the clouds it seeded the clouds. The clouds full of ice crystals already were filled with salt which produced an increase in the crystals in the clouds. The clouds weighty with ice and moisture could not hold back any longer and a great deluge of salted rain fell upon the inhabitants of Anenon for a week.
Crops were lost and the people of Anenon were angered at the goblins for being foolhardy even though the goblins were originally hired by the same people.
Citizens still are working on ways to reduce the salt. Some have ventured far into the Western Jungle to help find a cure for the curse.
Saphonelle
Saph, our favorite Naga maiden, is still alive and well in the land of ΛZMΛRE. She is at Ninhelm which is West of the Frost Giant’s Lair. Ninhelm has an enormous arena there where summoners can practice their magic in the grandest scale imaginable.
The groups of monsters are given mana cards to tell each participant the rules of the match. A summoner chooses his team from the ranks of the assembled monsters. The monsters fight and grow in skill as do the summoners.
A host of healers and revivers are on hand just in case. Many of the local Umans and creatures attend to watch.
From time to time when she is not training in the arena, Saph thinks back to the time when she met a humble fisherman in Drine by the name of Aeron and fell in love.
She dreams of going back there. If the fates allow she may go back one day.
The Explorers
Levi Willoby and Sherman Tirt of the famous Anenon Tirt’s were exploring the outer Eastern edge of ΛZMΛRE in hopes of finding the distance of the salt migration and if there was any clue to why the salt was invading.
Dressed in magical cold resistant snow cat hats, gloves, inner/outer jackets, pants, boots and long johns the explorers were quite warm. The snowcats were rare and the explorer's attitude was not very “Nature-friendly”. In harvesting the felines as fast as Umanly possible it could be said their attitude was in direct opposition of nature.
In Willoby‘s and Sherman‘s defense however, ΛZMΛRE is the harshest of the splinters. Like the old saying goes “There are 10,000 ways to die in ΛZMΛRE…and that’s just before breakfast”
In ΛZMΛRE nature is unfriendly back!
The salt crunched beneath the soles of their heavy boots. All they could see for miles and miles was rock salt. It was as if an entire salt mine decided to move up in the world and got belched up from the depths below. They scanned ahead with a goblin looking glass for anything that was not salt.
That is when Sherman let out a cry. He saw something up ahead in the salt. They moved ahead quickly looking to see what it was. Nearly covered in salt was a desiccated corpse. The two dug at the corpse. It was dried to the point that it could not be identified. Coarse salt was stuck to every part of the once Uman male.
All they could tell about the once live body was it belonged to a pirate that wore a blue bandanna.
Levi shook his head and said in a matter of fact kind of way “I swear by the frost on my beard…that is one Salty Pirate!” Sherman agreed. He had never in his life seen a pirate as salty as that one.
All Artwork Done by Splinterlands Team except Black and white pirate in Bar.
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